No he did not say that, and WaPo's own quote of what he did say shows he did not. He did not say he wanted to overturn existing regulations, either. He did suggest regulations were better at the local level, and that every tragedy under the sun may not, in fact, trace back to lack of regulations, but to some other cause.

"Is there a certain amount of accidents and unfortunate things that do happen, no matter what the regulations are?" Paul says at the Harlan Center, in response to a question about the Big Branch disaster. "The bottom line is I'm not an expert, so don't give me the power in Washington to be making rules. You live here, and you have to work in the mines. You'd try to make good rules to protect your people here. If you don't, I'm thinking that no one will apply for those jobs."

"Is there a certain amount of accidents and unfortunate things that do happen, no matter what the regulations are?" Paul says at the Harlan Center, in response to a question about the Big Branch disaster. "The bottom line is I'm not an expert, so don't give me the power in Washington to be making rules. You live here, and you have to work in the mines. You'd try to make good rules to protect your people here. If you don't, I'm thinking that no one will apply for those jobs."

Sir,is ol'Rand Paul not familar with the term "criminal negligence" ? Does he blindly trust the big mining corporations to have a fair regard for their employees safety? Did he read about the last mining disaster, or, for that matter, the " B.P. " oil spill where alarms were turned off so the workers could sleep?
Paul is just another "big business" clown who will do anything to either be elected or be re-elected.

Local rules on mines are going to be completely controlled by the mines themselves. Who is Paul kidding? Everyone knows the mining towns are run by the mines. His crack about how the mines have to keep themselves safe otherwise miners will die and no new miners will work there is absurd. Mining is dangerous, and people work there because they have little other choice or think the risk/reward is worth it. To think that major corporations actually value safety over profits and therefore don't need independent regulation is to put your head in the sand. Or the Gulf of Mexico.